Joseph W. Sarno

[wilder]

"The Ingmar Bergman of 42nd Street"

There was a whole line of these Joe Sarno releases planned, I wonder what happened to them

ABOUT THE FILM MEDIA PROJECT

The Film Media Project is dedicated to preserving, restoring and raising awareness of obscure and outstanding examples of independent cinema shot on motion picture film.

Conceived and initiated in 2016, the Film Media Project is the brainchild of company director Michael Raso who has dedicated his life to working with film. A professional cinematographer, editor and producer, Michael understands all aspects of film media from production through media management and distribution. Michael personally oversees the restoration and transfer to high definition of all films in the Film Media Project archive.

ABOUT THE JOSEPH W. SARNO FILM LIBRARY

The Joseph W. Sarno Film Library – the Film Media Archive currently includes the largest collection of films by erotic auteur Joseph W. Sarno. Restoration of the library to high definition media is scheduled to begin Spring of 2016, and will be managed by Michael Raso with assistance from Joe's widow, Peggy Sarno.

About Joseph W. Sarno (d. 2010) – an American film director and screenwriter, Joe Sarno emerged from the New York sexploitation film scene of the 1950s and 1960s and wrote / directed approximately 75 feature films including the internationally renowned Sin in the Suburbs and Inga. Often referred to as "the Ingmar Bergman of 42nd street", the last 12 years of Joe's life heralded a new appreciation for his body of nuanced and highly stylized erotic dramas, culminating in a series of screenings and awards at the Lake Placid Film Festival, the British Film Institute, the Turin Film Festival and the Warhol Museum among others. It was during this time that Joe Sarno and Michael Raso forged the close working relationship that would result in the location, purchase, and restoration of many of his existing films, and the production of Joe's final feature film in 2004.

NEWLY RESTORED IN 2K from original 35mm film elements, the films will be available in a two-disc Blu-ray (or DVD) collections featuring a new liner notes essay by film critic Tim Lucas, and a robust assortment of extras.

Film Media has also confirmed that restoration is under way on the films that will make up Volumes 4-11 of the series:

Sarno 04 - Sin in the Suburbs / Confessions of a Young American Housewife

Sarno 05 - Moonlighting Wives / Naked Fog

Sarno 06 - Abigail Lesley is Back in Town / Laura's Toys

Sarno 07 - Daddy Darling / The Indelicate Balance

Sarno 08- Inga / Seduction of Inga

Sarno 09 - Odd Triangle / Desire Under the Palms

Sarno 10 - Swedish Wildcats / Siv and Anne and Sven

Sarno 11 - Butterflies / Bibi

With Moonlighting Wives (1966) coming to blu-ray later this month from Dark Force Entertainment instead of Film Movement, and the last Film Movement blu-ray release of a Joe Sarno movie dating back to 2018, it's safe to say that this original release schedule is no longer in the cards. However, the majority of the remaining titles originally planned for blu-ray release by Film Movement are now available On Demand through Film Movement Plus, their streaming and video on demand service (links below).

The Indelicate Balance (1969) and Siv and Anne and Sven (1971) are not yet available On Demand, but show up as being part of the Film Movement catalog.

Butterflies (1975) and Bibi (1974) don't yet show as being part of the catalog.

Scroll down for an interview with Joe Sarno historian Michael J. Bowen, reproduced from Jeremy Richey's 'Moon in the Gutter' blog. Bowen has a Joe Sarno biography in the works.

Joe Sarno on Blu-ray

All the Sins of Sodom (1968) / Vibrations (1968)



All the Sins of Sodom (1968)
Encouraged by his agent, struggling NYC photographer Henning begins a daring portfolio of his model, Leslie. But all too soon, jealousies erupt when another model vies for his camera and bed. A strikingly filmed, penetrating study of ambition, romance and lust set in the world of 1960s fashion photography, All the Sins of Sodom is sexploitation auteur Sarno at the top of his game.

Vibrations (1968)
Aspiring poet Barbara moves to Manhattan to jump-start her career and sex life, only to spend her evenings listening to the sounds of her neighbor s vibrator. When her extroverted sister Julie comes to town, Barbara is forced to confront her repressed sexual desires. An early classic by sexploitation director Sarno, Vibrations is classy and sophisticated, beautifully shot, a juicy script, filled with wonderful performances and sexy as hell.

Confessions of a Young American Housewife (1974) / Sin in the Suburbs (1964) / Warm Nights and Hot Pleasures (1964)



Confessions of a Young American Housewife (1974)
New York sophisticates Carole and Eddie spice up their sex life by swapping partners with their close friends, Anna and Pete. An unexpected visit from Carole's young, attractive and recently widowed mother Jennifer throws a temporary wrench into their plans, but the quartet are soon back in action after Pete tries and fails to seduce Jennifer in the kitchen. Intoxicated by life and lust, Jennifer begins a May-December romance. Stars Rebecca Brooke and Jennifer Wells.

Sin in the Suburbs (1964)
Audrey Campbell (Olga) stars as Geraldine Lewis, a lonely housewife and mother who distracts herself with racy friends and a secret affair. Discovered in the arms of another man, Geraldine immerses herself in a secret sex club, only to find a shocking secret revealed!

Warm Nights and Hot Pleasures (1964)
Never Before Released on any Home Video Format. In 1964's Warm Nights and Hot Pleasures, Joe Sarno tells the tale of three ambitious college girls who head to New York City, eager to make their mark on Broadway. Short on funds, the girls rent a room from a men's magazine model and are soon immersed in a lurid world of wild parties, risque men's clubs and sleazy casting couches. Lessons are learned and hearts are broken as each one decides just how far she will go for stardom. Featuring Bettie Page-style bondage and female wrestling, Warm Nights and Hot Pleasures is a sultry snapshot of Manhattan of the early 1960s. Stars Marla Ellis and Joe Santos.

Deep Throat Part II (1974) / Pandora and the Magic Box (1975) / A Touch of Genie (1974)



Deep Throat Part II (1974)
Nurse Linda Lovelace works for libidinous sex therapist Dr. Jayson. One of the patients she is treating is Dilbert Lamb, a meek geek who's harboring plans for a top secret government computer. Both the KGB and FBI alike attempt to enlist Lovelace in order to obtain the data on the computer.

Pandora and the Magic Box (1975)
King Minos is married to the vulgar and voracious Queen Scylla. Minos discovers that his long-lost niece is the rightful ruler of Greece and devises a plan to keep her from being found.

A Touch of Genie (1974)
Melvin lives a boring life, running an antique shop and sneaking off to 42nd Street to watch dirty movies, while dreaming that he too may some day seduce Tina Russell. But one afternoon, he finds a strange old urn that, when rubbed a special way, unleashes a genie capable of satisfying his every wish. Soon Melvin finds himself living out all of his erotic fantasies by taking on the bodies of Marc Stevens, Eric Edwards, and others. There's only one problem...his overbearing mother keeps on catching him in the act...

Vampire Ecstasy (1973) / Sin You Sinners (1963)



Vampire Ecstasy (1973)
Three beautiful young women arrive at a grim and secluded castle, eager to claim their inheritance. In the castle basement, a coven of witches dance in a wild ritual, invoking the spirit of their deceased vampire leader. That same night, a brother and sister arrive, warning of the castle's evil curse. But too soon they also fall under the witches' spell, and the stage is set for the return of the Baroness Varga, for the vessel has been chosen!

Sin You Sinners (1963)
An aging exotic dancer uses occult forces in the shape of a magic amulet to maintain her youth and beauty. Discovering her secret, her jealous daughter and employer hatch plots to steal the amulet for themselves. When the amulet goes missing, it sets off a chain of events ending in murder.

All the Sins of Sodom (1968) (Vinegar Syndrome)





Moonlighting Wives (1966)



An ambitious suburban housewife, tired of forever being in debt, sets up an independent stenography business. Finding that her clients are more interested in the women than the dictation, she revamps it into a discreet and highly profitable prostitution ring made up of neighbourhood wives.

Red Roses of Passion (1966) (Vinegar Syndrome)



Carla is fed up with her dull home life, living a prudish existence with her spinster aunt. After being introduced to a tarot reader, Carla quickly finds herself involved with a mysterious sect known as The Cult of Pan, who have learned to harness the carnal powers of roses to entrap men into sexual liaisons. But as Carla delves deeper into the occult world, the true and much more sinister motives of the cult start to become apparent.



A Touch of Genie (1974) (Vinegar Syndrome)

Joe Sarno On Demand

Abigail Lesley Is Back In Town (1975)



A seductive woman who left her small fishing town long ago, after being caught with another woman's husband, returns to shake up the place by seducing everyone, including the woman and her girlfriends.

Abigail Lesley Is Back In Town (1975) - VOD through Vimeo



Daddy, Darling (1970)



In his critically acclaimed coming-of-age film Daddy, Darling, sexploitation auteur Joseph Sarno gracefully explores a young girl's growing sexual fascination with her father, and how it impacts the relationships of those around her. Katja, a naïve and sheltered 19-year-old, lives alone with her widowed father. Jealous of the time he spends with his female friend Svea (Gio Petre, "Wild Strawberries"), Katja plots to sabotage their romance by flaunting her new found sexual confidence. When her father rejects her advances and marries Svea, Katja begins a sizzling journey of sexual and personal discovery.

Daddy, Darling (1970) - VOD through Film Movement



Desire Under the Palms (1968)



Set in southern Florida, Desire Under the Palms (1968) tells the sizzling story of Betty (Barbara Lance), a failed writer of erotica who unleashes her hidden lesbian desires after she discovers some salacious men's magazines. Gorgeous black-and-white photography by Steve Silverman and a jazzy score drive Betty's journey to sexual liberation.

Desire Under the Palms (1968)- VOD through Film Movement



Inga (1968)



Director Joe Sarno's 1968 breakout hit Inga catapulted its young Swedish star Marie Liljedahl to international fame and established Sarno's reputation as one of the 20th century's leading auteurs of sexploitation cinema. A beautiful and naïve young woman becomes a pawn in a game of sexual manipulation and deceit after moving into her aunt's home. To escape, she must choose between a sophisticated much-older man and her aunt's younger lover.

Inga (1968) - VOD through Film Movement



Laura's Toys (1975)



Archaeologist Walter and his wife Laura are working at a dig on a small island off the coast of Sweden. One day Laura catches Walter having a go at it with his sexy assistant, Anna. Laura calls in her old friend--and former lesbian lover, Hanni, to help get her revenge on Walter by having she and Hanni seduce Anna.

Laura's Toys (1975) - VOD through Film Movement



Odd Triangle (1968)



Allison Harvey (Barbara Lance) is a bored housewife looking for kicks in this steamy and sophisticated film from sexploitation auteur Joseph Sarno. Teaming up with her swinging neighbor Janet and new friend Winnie, the trio – an Odd Triangle – rent a houseboat and embark upon a voyage of sexual discovery.

Odd Triangle (1968) - VOD through Film Movement



Swedish Wildcats (1972)



British bombshell Diana Dors camps it up as Aunt Marghareta, owner of an exotic Copenhagen brothel staffed by an assortment of international beauties, in this delectable fantasy from sexploitation auteur Joseph Sarno.

NSFW

Swedish Wildcats (1972) - VOD through Film Movement



The Naked Fog (1966)



In a provincial fishing village on the upper east coast, failed writer and weary sophisticate Marge (Tammy Latour) longs for a quiet life and a traditional romance. But soon after she's settled in, she discovers a hotbed of infidelity, violence and financial ruin all stemming from the town brothel. Intrigued, Marge rents a room in the brothel, convincing herself she's researching a potential novel... until her past mistakes in love and work catch up with her. A steamy drama about the successes and failures of a young writer caught up in the 1960s sexual revolution from exploitation auteur Joe Sarno.

The Naked Fog (1966) - VOD through Film Movement



The Seduction of Inga (1968)



The sequel to the film that made Marie Liljedahl an international star and cemented the reputation of director Joe Sarno as one of the 20th century's leading sexploitation auteurs. Alone and penniless, Inga becomes the personal secretary and lover of a dashing older man. But when business takes him away, temptation proves too difficult to resist, and soon Inga must choose between her lover, his mistress and a handsome young musician. This critically acclaimed slice of euro-sexploitation features gorgeous cinematography by Max Wilén and a groovy score by Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (ABBA!).

The Seduction of Inga (1968) - VOD through Film Movement


There's a documentary on Joe Sarno, A Life in Dirty Movies (2013), available to rent/buy on Vimeo

A Life in Dirty Movies is a love story about legendary sexploitation director Joe Sarno, "the Ingmar Bergman of 42nd Street," and his loyal wife and collaborator Peggy. The film follows the Sarnos for a year, as 88-year old Joe struggles to get a new film project off the ground - a female-centric softcore film that harkens back to the style of his heyday as a filmmaker in the 1960s. As audiences tag along for the eventful and often hilarious journey between wintery Manhattan and the couple's summer retreat in Sweden, the film's intimate perspective reveals a filmmaker on the verge of being rediscovered in his golden years. Intercut is a look back to the evolution of softcore films seen as racy in their day into unmistakable hardcore porn that all but put Sarno and his artform out of business. The film chronicles Sarno's significant place in film history as an erotic "auteur," whose ambitions as a filmmaker often surpassed the needs of the genre he helped define. A Life in Dirty Movies is a clever and sincere portrait of a unique couple who follow their passion in life - onscreen and off.



Credit to Jeremy Richey of Moon In the Gutter for the following interview:

Sunday, November 21, 2010

A Moon in the Gutter Q&A with adult film historian Michael J. Bowen

Today I am really thrilled to present this Q&A I conducted via email with noted adult film historian Michael J. Bowen. Readers here, who might recall some of my posts on the films of Joe Sarno, will know how much I admire Michael and value his work, so this was a real pleasure to do. Michael talks about his background, his work with Sarno and Doris Wishman, as well as his other projects and interests. Enough of my rambling...let's here from the man himself:

Michael with actor Tod Moore ("Judson Todd") and Peggy Steffans-Sarno at the recent Anthology Film Archives tribute to Joe Sarno.

Michael, Thank you very much for taking the time to do this. I greatly admire your work and I am thrilled to have you as part of this series. To start with, can you tell us a bit about yourself, your background and your work as a film historian?

I started out as kind of a film buff, I guess, as a kid growing up in the Boston area. I worked for a period of time as the assistant manager at a repertory theater and was just always interested in cinema from an aesthetic point of view, going to repertory and art theaters all the time. Like many people, I first came across sexploitation movies on videotape in the 1990s and was fascinated to realize that there had been this whole, dynamic, commercial cinema that had basically fallen entirely below the radar of traditional film connoisseurship. I also realized that a certain cadre of filmmakers working within this genre were exceptional "outsider" talents, and so I began to look more closely into the films and into their production context. In the early 2000's, I also decided to apply to the PhD program in Cinema Studies at NYU as a means of formalizing my studies and have used it as a base of operation for my expanding research on independent commercial cinema in New York in the 1960s and '70s. I am not, per se, a generic exploitation movie fan – especially horror movies – but I engage with certain films that I feel bear the hallmarks of original, aesthetically interesting filmmaking.

Who were some of the initial filmmakers that got you interested in cinema and what were some of your early favorite films?

I started out as a kid as a fan of bad science fiction movies, mostly seen on "Creature Feature" type re-runs on TV. I used to keep a card file with the credits for every film I saw, laboriously (and probably inaccurately!) copied off the screen as they flashed by (this was well before the days of home video, natch). I think I first encountered genuine masterpieces of world cinema – classic and silent Hollywood and foreign art films – on public television. I was always (and continue to be) a pretty canonical fan of the great post-war European cinema: Fellini and Bergman were early favorites; I've become quite addicted to Antonioni, Bresson and Dreyer as I get older. I'm also kind of a sucker for the edgier "indie" classics of my formative years, the 1970s: Scorsese, Nicolas Roeg, David Lynch. That said, I am not exactly a classic auteurist because I'm the first to admit that many of the great filmmakers made some pretty lousy movies during their careers. I guess I was always attracted to films that privileged formal over narrative elements.

I know you the most from your extraordinary work documenting and writing on Joe Sarno but can you tell us about some of your earlier work as a film historian and writer, specifically your work on Doris Wishman?

Historical research is essentially tedious and empirical. The first few times you phone up an old film personality and conduct an interview, it's kinda fun, but ultimately the real work is 80% document-based. I'm sure I've ruined my eyesight reading through thirty years' worth of Variety and scanning old film ads on microfilm, but that's were you collect most of your data. In rare instances some of my interview contacts have preserved records that they've been kind enough to share with me – always very exciting – but that's an exception. I've often said, documenting the careers of low-budget outsider filmmakers (as opposed to "big names") is like the difference between eating crabs and eating lobsters – no tail meat! But over time I've been able to pull together lots and lots of scraps of information that are gradually beginning to add up to some sort of a "big picture." In truth, I'm probably more of an archivist than a writer by nature; I enjoy building my dossiers and databases and think of books and articles as just a means for delivering the info. That said, I hope the interpretive aspects of my writing speak in some meaningful way to the films I engage with: that's where writing really trumps evidence.

As for Doris, I met her at Harvard University (I was attending Brown at the time) in the mid-1990s, where she'd been invited for a modest retrospective of her work. I guess we just hit it off and I realized that somebody, somewhere, ought to make an effort to document her life and career. She certainly could have selected a more product-oriented biographer – I've been fiddling around with this project for over a decade now – but I think Doris saw my sincerity and was happy to work with me. I loved her dearly.

How were you first introduced to the cinema of Joe Sarno and how did you first come into contact with him?

I first saw Joe's films, like many people, on Something Weird videotapes. I was working with Doris at the time, however, and really had no intention of expanding into research on other directors. I initially contacted Joe, in fact, because he had worked with several actors who had also worked with Doris – including, of course, the divine Ms. Cleo Nova, a.k.a. Joe's wife and production partner, my dear friend Peggy Steffans. The day we met was memorable because it was September 10, 2001, the day before the World Trade Center was attacked. At any rate, I just thought Joe was the most extraordinarily kind and sincere guy - and I fell in love with Peggy right off the bat - so we just sort of became friends. Then I realized that Joe's career needed to be documented as badly (if not more so) than Doris's (because it was so much bigger) and began expanding my research and interviews to include information about Joe's work. So I guess you could say that my installation as Joe's biographer was kind of an outgrowth of the fact that I liked the guy so much and was always enthused about the prospect of foraging in new fields. Since so many of his films were missing or dispersed or difficult to find at the time I met him, it probably took a couple of years for me to actually get to see the majority of his work.

To my eyes Sarno is one of the key filmmakers of the sixties and seventies. For folks who are just being introduced to his works what film would you recommend as an ideal introduction, and do you have a personal favorite you would like to share with us?

Overall, I've always felt that Joe Sarno fans are very self-selected: there's a certain rhythm to his work that not everybody is able to groove with. My favorites of Joe's films tend to reflect my own interest in cinematic minimalism, films where Joe simply lets a situation build and is not primarily focused on the mechanics of technique. I usually weed out the Sarnoites from the tourists by suggesting that they watch Vibrations (1968): if that doesn't strike you as one of the best fucking movies ever made, then you probably aren't going to get too carried away by the rest of his work. For me, Vibrations is Sarno in crack form... one light, agonizingly tight framing, oodles of repressed desire. Perfect.

Misty poster courtesy of Michael's terrific Sarno Facebook group, Red Roses of Passion.

Among his earlier efforts (and don't forget that several of his mid-Sixties films are still officially "lost"), I really like The Sex Cycle: it's so naïve yet so engaging it literally makes me high: it's like a dream I want to remember forever. And in terms of his later soft-core work, Abigail Lesley and Misty (if you can find a bootleg) are so melancholy and sincere that I feel they ought to be counted among the top 100 films of the 1970s.

Your liner-notes that have graced Sarno's DVDs are extremely insightful and informative. Do you have plans in the future on perhaps releasing a full-scale biography?

Sometime in the next few years (but please don't hold me that that!), there will be a major Joe Sarno biography. Joe had an extraordinary career and it has to be accurately documented. I also spent many, many hours interviewing him on audiotape a few years ago, so there are lots of observations he made that I want to get out there.

I know you have had the great fortune to meet and interview many of Sarno's key collaborators and actors. Is there someone in particular that has proven elusive that you would like to sit down with?

Yes. Her name is Patricia McNair and she starred in many of Joe's seminal sexploitation classics of the mid-1960s under the name Lorraine or Laurene Claire. She was an extraordinary presence in Joe's films and someone I have never been able to track down.

Before he passed away you helped Sarno on the extras of his extraordinary Abigail Lesley is Back in Town. I think the film is a masterpiece and the DVD that came out earlier this year became an instant favorite. Along with the incredible commentary and interviews you got to go back to Sarno's hometown of Amityville with him. Can you talk about this mini-doc a bit as I find it incredibly moving?

Since Joe shot most of Abigail Lesley in and around Amityville, we wanted to go back and find some of the locations he used. We had, in fact, not planned to interview him in the car on the way out there, but I am so grateful that my extraordinary cameraman, Scooter McCrae, thought to start rolling while we talked. Then, of course, we were lucky enough to have had access to the house where Joe grew up since his childhood friend Henry Marcley now lived there – a wonderful guy! So I wish I could say that I had the prescience to plan everything that happened that day, but it just kind of fell together – as it turns out, less than a year before Joe passed away. I'm very glad we got it on tape.

The late Jamie Gillis also was on hand for the film's extras. What were your impressions of him and did you get the sense that he was happy to have some of his work recognized as important?

Jamie was an extremely sincere, intense, thoughtful guy the few times I met him and he seemed to think the world of Joe as a director. I believe he was very happy to receive recognition for his work as an actor – not just a porn star – during his last few years.

By the late seventies, Sarno was working fairly actively in the adult film industry. How did Sarno feel about his time in that industry and did he have any favorite performers from the era he worked with?

Joe was a director's director: if he wasn't making a movie, he didn't know what to do with himself. So I know he put his heart and soul into making explicit, X-rated films as well. That having been said, he also frequently observed that he felt there were inherent limitations to what one could do with a film with hardcore content, so it wasn't his favorite way to work. But given the vagaries of the adult film market, he was very grateful to have the chance to stay in production and was proud of every film he made.

In terms of his favorite actors, Joe got along with 99% of his actors famously, so I doubt he privileged one over the other. He was very fond of Tina Russell, Georgie Spelvin (a great lady!), Jennifer Welles, Annie Sprinkle. He and Peggy were very close to Rob Everett (Eric Edwards) and Harry Reems. Joe managed to get the best out of everyone he worked with: the actors trusted him because he was intensely sincere about his work.

One thing I greatly admire about you is your dedication to filmmakers who are so often ignored and sometimes greatly maligned. Have you had a lot of opposition from certain film elitists who don't see the value in directors you admire and find important?

The "opposition" one encounters to the kind of work I do usually takes the form of silence. And it comes more from academics than from contemporary film critics, most of whom, I have found, have a very soft spot in their hearts for the labors of filmmakers like Joe and Doris. The problem that academic intellectuals have is that most films of this nature do not naturally lend themselves to textualization: in other words, most interesting "outsider" filmmaking lacks a certain self-consciousness, an explicit aesthetic agenda, that most intellectuals look for and try to translate textually into articles, etc. So the silence of the films tends to inspire silence in the scholars – and believe me, if anybody abhors silence, it's academics! So I guess I see myself as a little bit of a fish out of water in this respect, but it has always been a reflex of mine to respond to naiveté and spontaneity in art. Most intellectuals want art-makers to be intellectuals too. I don't.

Do you have any future career plans you would like to share with us?

Outside of attempting to complete all of the above (gasp! moan!), I would very much like to bring more attention to great, French "outsider" filmmakers like Jean Rollin and Jose Benazeraf – tremendous talents whose work has not always been valued by their own countrymen. It would be nice to help arrange decent retrospectives of their films in the U.S. And I have a few side projects lingering as well: a book on actor/director Neil Flanagan composed in the vein of Rudolph Grey's Ed Wood biography, Nightmare of Ecstasy; and a substantial essay on the dubbing industry in New York during the 1960s and '70s, a fascinating and important element of the cultural history of foreign film reception in America. I have also been assisting porn auteur Carter Stevens pull together a memoir about his own extraordinary career for quite a while: he's a wonderful guy and I'm sorry I have not been able to focus on it more exclusively. My biggest problem, obviously, is that I never run out of subjects that interest me! One day it will all get done.

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Cult Epics first (of what I hope will be many) Radley Metzger DVDs, a special edition of Score, has recently come out and Michael's fine work can be found on that disc's supplements. I also wanted to mention that Michael has been working tirelessly in the last few years uploading thousands of additions and corrections to the IMDB's listings for the adult films of the sixties and seventies. He has also uploaded hundreds of accurate release dates (you can usually tell his as he includes the city in which the premiere occurred) for these films that he has verified through his exhaustive research.
Thanks again to Michael for agreeing to do this and I hope it will lead some folks here to seek out some of the films mentioned above. Also, please take a moment and join the Red Roses of Passion Facebook page as Michael and I would greatly appreciate it.

[wilder]

April 11, 2023

Spoke too soon, Film Movement is releasing Moonlighting Wives (1966) and The Naked Fog (1966) on blu-ray next month



Dripping with color, Moonlighting Wives (1966) introduced Joe Sarno's psycho-sexual erotic dramas to popular audiences when it screened in mainstream cinemas and drive-ins. For his next productions, Jo returned to his trademark economical black-and-white dramas including The Naked Fog, presented here for the first time to home media. Mesmerizing performances by star Tammy Latour link these prime examples of Sarno's 1960s films.

In Moonlighting Wives, unhappy housewife Joan (Tammy Latour) turns her stenography service into a thriving prostitution ring. When Joan gives well-connected golf pro Al a piece of the action, blackmail follows and soon the cops are on to their illicit enterprise. Available for the first time ever on home media, The Naked Fog has long been considered a "lost" film in Joe Sarno's filmography. In this classic, jaded jet-setter Marge (Tammy LaTour) starts a new identify as a writer in upper east coast suburbia. But when writer's block hits, the town brothel – a hotbed of infidelity and blackmail – offers the perfect inspiration.